A known device for selectively closing an opening formed in a vehicle body of an automobile includes a fixed structure (window glass pane) and a slide panel provided with a peripheral frame fitted with two guide pegs (Patent Document 1). In this device, the fixed structure is provided with a guide rail on the side of the vehicle body facing the interior of the vehicle. The guide rail is internally provided with a slider forming a shuttle therein. The slider is provided with a groove including an inclined portion forming an angle of 1 to 89 degrees relative to the axial line of the sliding movement along the guide rail, and configured to receive the guide pegs so that the slide panel is enabled to move in a direction orthogonal to a major plane of the fixed structure.
The device disclosed in. Patent Document 1 includes a cable fixedly attached to an edge of the frame to be actuated by a geared motor and having a part extending substantially in parallel with the axial line of the sliding movement on the guide rail, and an automatic winding unit that can control the changes in the length of the part of the cable that is not wound around a pulley so that the operation of the device may be automated. More specifically, a drive unit is fixedly secured to a lower part of the frame and the operation of the drive unit is controlled by the geared motor via the drive cable so that the slide panel may undergo a sliding movement. The lateral movement of the drive cable is simply transmitted to the drive unit so that the slide panel slides in response to the sliding movement of the drive unit. The movement of the slide panel in a direction orthogonal to the major plane of the fixed structure is effected by the action of the automatic winding unit that releases an extra length of the cable for the purpose of controlling the changes in the length of the part of the cable not wound around the pulley.